A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Close - But No Cigar

Maimonides Memorial - Cordova, Spain

Rabbi Daniel
Gordis never fails to surprise me. He has responded to critics of his last article
(Requiem for a Movement) in which he spoke about the imminent demise of his movement,
Conservative Judaism. In that article he cited the devastating statistics of a recent Pew Research Center Survey (like
the 70% intermarriage rate of non Orthodox Jews) as evidence of that, his
reasons for that, and his prescription for a cure.

Critics from
within his movement (interlocutors – as he calls them) have disputed his claim.
I am not going to go into his rather lengthy response (Cognitive Dissonance) which
can be read at the Jewish Review of Books website. But there are a few of
things that stood out that are worthy of note here.

Daniel
Gordis one might say is the favorite Conservative Rabbi of Orthodox Jews. I
think that is a fair assessment (albeit with a caveat which I will get to
later). I believe that a great deal of what he says resonates with Orthodox Jews.
If one did not know better, one would almost think he is an Modern Orthodox
Rabbi. Just to cite one example:

In (Modern Orthodoxy)
the Jewish calendar is the metronome of life; they have homes infused
with much more ritual, they learn more Torah, they intermarry much less, they
visit Israel more often than their Conservative and Reform peers. They sing
together and daven (which is not the same thing as worshipping)
together. The best of them (not all, not enough) read just as much, think as
broadly, and are as fully engaged in the modern world as their non-Orthodox
counterparts, despite the intellectual tensions.

His criticism
of Conservative Judaism too sounds like it came from an Orthodox perspective:

Conservative
Judaism was never sufficiently aspirational. Instead of insisting that halakha
might give congregants aspirational ideals, it recalibrated Jewish practice for
maximum comfort. It failed to recognize that the space between the “is” and the
“ought” is where we grow deeper.

While he
recognizes that many Orthodox Jews observe Mitzvos and customs for sociological
reasons and can be quite lax outside of their community, at the same time he feels that their sense of community is what makes them cohesive. In an interesting
example of that, he tells us of a Modern Orthodox couple where the wife covers
her hair with a Shaitel (wig) and yet when they go on vacation in an areas where there were no Kosher restaurants they ate in Treif ones. (Although I
doubt that they ate actual Treif meat – they still probably violated the laws
of Kashrus – which are very complex).

This kind of
‘Lite’ observance is unfortunately an all too common occurrence among far too
many Jews. But it does exist. Yet these people are all members in good
standing of their Orthodox communities. This, says Rabbi Grodis is the hallmark
and savior of Orthodoxy that does not exist in the Conservative movement.

This is
where I begin to part company with him. He attributes our success to our communal bond.
While it is true that it exists, that is not the reason for our success
(although I’m sure it helps). What has and continues to sustain us throughout history
is our belief system. It is a belief in the 13 core principles of faith as
outlined by the Rambam (Maimondes). It is those core principles that gives us
our cohesion and perpetuates us. These core principles bind us to
Mitzvah observance. The community which results is due more to that than any
artificial sense of belonging to a group.

Many of the Maimonidean principles contradict modern biblical criticism. Which seems to be an article of faith
among Conservative thinkers and thereby supersedes them.
Biblical criticism is a discipline that does literary analyses
of the Torah and suggests that the Torah was very likely written by man - at
different periods of history… and that the events at Sinai never happened and are only allegorical. The Rambam on the other hand tells us that belief
in the events of Sinai is foundational.

I am not
going to get into a discussion about the validity of biblical criticism except
to say, that I do not subscribe to its conclusions. I am a believer in the 13
principles of faith. Why I do - is beyond the scope of this post. Unfortunately modern scholarship has
penetrated some of our own circles which has led many Orthodox Jews to question
the events of Sinai. But that too is beyond the scope of this post.

Rabbi Gordis
has subscribed to biblical criticism ever since he studied it as a young man. What is telling about the problem I have with it is
how he dealt with the obvious question it raises: How does one theologically justify
following Halacha as a Godly mandate in a document likely written by man? Here is his
answer:

I talked to
my grandfather. A leading intellectual light of the Conservative movement, he
had to have something to say, didn’t he? But no matter how hard I pushed,
we always ended up in the same place. Why did halakha matter? It was, he told
me, minhag k’lal yisrael. “This is simply what Jews do.” This is how we
Jews live; it’s the ticket to belonging. “Stop all your theologizing,” he
basically said to me. “Life’s real decisions are about belonging and sustaining,
not about theology.”

I’m sorry
but doing Mitzvos is more than about Minhag Klal Yisroel or belonging. While that is a benefit too, it
is hardly the reason to observe. If I thought the Torah was a man made
document, I would go out and buy a cheeseburger right now! Judaism as Orthodoxy
understands it - is about Yiras Shomayim… being in awe of God and doing His
will. That will - is expressed in His Torah – dictated to Moshe.

So as much
as I like Rabbi Gordis’s attitude about Orthodoxy – especially Modern Orthodoxy –
which he says should be the model for Conservative Jews, Judaism will never be
sustained without its core theology of belief in the revelation at Sinai. Man made
laws can and will be changed by men. So that a Judaism devoid of a Torah mandate will
ultimately evolve into whatever the spirit of the times tells us is the moral
and ethical ideal of the moment – and will be unrecognizable as anything Jewish. The Judaism we observe today is the Judaism of our forefathers.

While Halacha always
evolves – applying its principles to the times, the times do not adapt the Torah
to it. Yes, Judaism as we practice it
today hardly resembles the way it was practiced in ancient times. We had to
adapt to changing circumstances. But the Torah was never changed. We have
simply looked to it in order to know how to adapt.

This has
always been my primary problem with the Conservative movement. Much more than
its questionable Halachic rulings like permitting driving to Shul on Shabbos. A
theology that allows the denial of the events at Sinai is a theology that
denies the Torah itself.

If not for
Rabbi Gordis’s problematic theology, I would love to welcome him into Orthodoxy’s
big tent. But even the most left wing
segment of Orthodoxy – which Rabbi Gordis correctly believes would welcome him - rejects
the claim that Sinai never happened. Left
Wing standard bearer, Yeshiva Chovevei Torah (YCT) has rejected one of its brighter ordainees skepticism
about Siniatic Revelation. But they still accepted him as a member in good
standing of Orthodoxy. I’m sure they would accept Rabbi Gordis too.

I believe
YCT is wrong for doing so as it pushes the envelope too far. It makes their
stand on the theology itself unclear. But the fact is that they don’t accept it. And that’s
the difference between YCT and the
Conservative movement. The Conservative movement legitimizes that theology. And
that makes them outside the pale. Which is really too bad. We could use a fine
mind and dedicated Jew like Rabbi Gordis.

Please note: I am not going to allow a theological discussion about biblical criticsim. That is beyond the scope of this post.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.